Cicer beans, also known as garbanzo beans, humus bean, chickpea, and other regional monikers, are a high-value crop adapted well for both dry land and irrigated cropping regions. Cicer beans are an annual grain legume or pulse crop that originated in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. Garbanzos were one of the first legumes cultivated by humans, dating to 7,000-6,000 B.C. Pulse crops, like cicer beans, dry beans, dry peas, faba beans, lentils, and lupin work with rhizobia bacteria to convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into nitrogen nodules on the plant roots. This process increases soil fertility in rotation with other crops such as wheat, barley, and other cereal grains. Cicer beans include two primary classes—the “desi” and the “kabuli” classes or types. Desi plants produce smaller seeds, generally 100 or more seeds per ounce when dried. The seeds have a thick and irregular-shaped seed coat that can range in color when dried from light tan to black. Kabuli types produce larger seeds and have a paper-thin seed coat. Kabuli types produce seeds with colors that range when dried from white to a pale cream colored tan.
World production of the cicer beans is roughly three times that of peas and lentils. Among other pulse crops marketed as human food, world cicer bean consumption is second only to dry beans. Turkey, Australia, Syria, Mexico, Argentina, and Canada are the major cicer bean exporters around the world. Historically, North American cicer bean production was confined to California and the Pacific Northwest. Recently, cicer bean production has expanded into the northern Great Plains regions of Canada and the United States.
Cicer bean plants are erect with primary, secondary, and tertiary branching, resembling a small bush. They flower profusely and have an indeterminate growth habit, continuing to flower and set pods as long as conditions are favorable. Pod set occurs on the primary and secondary branches, and on the main stem. The individual round pods generally contain one seed in kabuli types, and often two seeds in desi types. Cicer bean stems, leaves, and seed pods are covered with small, hair-like glandular structures that secrete malic and oxalate acids, which deter insect pests. Accordingly, insect problems on cicer beans have been minimal and insecticide applications generally have not been necessary.
Mechanically harvested commercial cicer bean production has heretofore been limited to dry beans that are typically harvested at about 13% moisture content or less, and attain a characteristic yellowish cream color. When harvested dry, crop loss can be high as swathing or combining techniques cut the dry cicer bean plant at its stock and threshing mechanisms traditionally used with cereal crops are used to de-pod or thresh the product. Yield losses of up to 33% are not uncommon. Furthermore, the dry cicer bean must undergo extensive rehydration in some instances for canning and transportation to world markets. Garbanzos have a characteristic small, protruding, beak-like structure that is often damaged during dry harvesting through breakage of the brittle bean.
In some areas of the world, cicer beans are harvested by hand when they are green and thereafter de-podded by hand for fresh consumption. The green garbanzo is popular both for its higher nutritional value than that of the traditional dry garbanzo bean and its characteristic sweet taste and medium-bodied texture. Through an increased demand for organic green produce, market demand for the green garbanzo bean has increased dramatically.
There has been no commercially viable way to satisfy the market demand for green cicer beans due primarily to agronomic, harvesting, and processing challenges associated with green cicer beans. From an agronomic perspective, most cicer beans are grown in arid areas or are otherwise subject to high temperatures during ideal harvest time. Green cicer beans are thus highly susceptible to caramelization prior to harvest and processing. Caramelization is the process by which sugars in the green garbanzo are turned into starch. Caramelization of the green garbanzo happens at temperatures of 95° F. or above. Loss of sugars to starch in the green cicer bean completely changes the taste, color, and nutritional value of the product and renders it commercially useless as a green commodity. If the green cicer bean is exposed to caramelization temperatures, it is only marketable as a dried commodity. Accordingly, there exists a need for agronomic methods to avoid the problem of caramelization.
Commercial harvesting of the green cicer bean presents numerous challenges. The green cicer bean pod is tight and leathery, requiring extensive gentle threshing in order to de-pod the product without damaging the bean structure. Harvesting a green cicer bean in prior art harvesters, such as that used for the green pea, results in significant damage to the product and significantly lower yields. Prior art threshing methods fail to open the leathery pod or otherwise remove the pod without damaging the green product. Additionally, due to the unique shape and variation in size of the cicer bean, various threshing challenges are created in order to preserve all features of the shape, including the characteristic small, protruding, beak-like structure of most garbanzo beans. The ideal acreage for growing garbanzo beans is frequently located in areas of the world riddled with topographical challenges, such as slopes as dramatic as 50%, making harvest by prior art harvesters unpracticable. Accordingly, there exists a need for a mechanical harvester that will effectively remove the tough leathery pod of the green cicer bean without damaging the characteristic shape or character of the green product.
Cicer beans have never been commercially produced as a green commodity and thus, several challenges are presented for the commercial exploitation of the cicer bean as a green product. The green garbanzo is maturing in the field daily, and is especially susceptible to change in color, texture and flavor. Food processors and growers face a challenge to produce a marketable product that must be preserved at the peak of quality from the standpoint of color, texture, and flavor. Thus, there exists a need for post-harvest handling and processing methods adapted to preserve the green cicer bean's unique shape, texture, color, and flavor. Furthermore, existing food processing systems must be changed and operated according to methods designed to handle cicer beans that can be harvested and shipped to food processing plants under time-constrained circumstances, where processing of various beans in a number of different standard sizes must be dealt with. For example, desi-type and kabuli-type beans come in different sizes, but will be harvested at the same time—and both need to be handled and processed to preserve color, texture, and flavor. Additionally, there exists a need to ensure a steady supply of top quality green garbanzo produce during harvesting to large food processors, requiring growers to orchestrate timing of plantings such that the green cicer beans will mature and can be harvested in rhythm with processing plant capabilities. For the green cicer bean, especially, quality of the produce demands a minimal amount of stockpiling and a minimal amount of preprocessing storage. Finally, from a processing standpoint, green cicer beans present additional challenges to food processors in never-before-seen leaf and stem trash.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a method and mechanism that address at least some of the problems identified above, whereby green cicer beans may be efficiently and effectively harvested and de-podded without undue damage to the green cicer beans or excessive crop loss.